Microsoft

The latest major update to Windows 10 starts rolling out to the general public this week. Some of the most useful changes will be behind the scenes, but there will be the first hints in a longer-term program to revamp the way the system looks on ... screen. The "Fall Creators Update" is the latest of the twice-yearly major Windows 10 updates that add new features. That's in contrast to the more frequent updates that fix performance and security problems. As usual, it's been available to people in Microsoft's testing programs before this roll out. Windows 10 Fall Creators Update will be a ... (view more)

Microsoft has confirmed it will sell another standalone edition of the Office suite for people who don't want an annual subscription. It will receive updates, but only for an unspecified period. Despite the name, Office 2019 will come out in the ... second half of next year. It's described by Microsoft as both a "perpetual release" and a "perpetual update", which is a somewhat unwieldy way to distinguish it from Office 365. (Source: office.com ) Office 365 is a subscription model in which users get continuous updates for as long as they pay either a monthly or annual subscription, but when they ... (view more)

Microsoft claims Windows 10 performance is improving while glitches are less common. It appears one explanation may be a slowdown in the update rollout process. The claims come in a blog post comparing the two most recent 'major update' versions of ... Windows 10, the twice-yearly updates that bring new features rather than just fixing performance and security bugs. It cites figures collected in telemetry reports, in which it tracks the activity on computers, something that Microsoft says helps improve the system, but raises privacy concerns among some critics. Boot Time And Log-In Speedier ... (view more)

Microsoft is to give Windows 10 users more details about exactly what an app is able to do on their computer. It's a similar security measure to that available on some mobile device apps. Until now, apps only usually have to get a Windows user's ... permission when they want to access location data, for example in a mapping tool. That's changing with the 2017 Fall Creators Update, the next major twice-yearly feature update for Windows 10. Microphone and Webcam Access Need Permission The change means apps will need the user's permission to access key hardware components on the computer such as a ... (view more)

Microsoft has promised it won't download new Windows software to users without permission again. The promise staves off legal action in Germany, though is somewhat outdated with the changes to the way Windows is developed. The legal case followed ... the discovery in 2015 that Microsoft had automatically downloaded Windows 10 installation files to users regardless of whether they had shown any interest in upgrading to the new system. The idea was to make it quicker for people get up and running if they did upgrade, as well as spreading out the load of Windows download servers to avoid the ... (view more)

The next Windows 10 update will make shutting down or restarting a computer a smoother process. It will also make it slightly easier to switch back and forth between a phone and a computer. The changes are in the latest test build of the Windows 10 ... "Fall Creator's Update." That's the next twice-yearly update to Windows 10 that adds new features rather than simply fixing security and performance bugs. Normally in Windows, if you restart the computer (or it's automatically restarted by an update), you need to re-enter your login details. The same thing happens if you shut ... (view more)

Security firm Kaspersky Lab has filed a formal complaint accusing Microsoft of acting unfairly over the way it promotes its own security products. Microsoft says it is acting to keep Windows users protected. Kaspersky previously complained to the ... Federal Anti-monpoly Service in its home country of Russia. That led to several changes to Microsoft's policy, including rewording a message that suggested users uninstall third-party security software and use the built-in Windows Defender instead. Now Kaspersky has taken the issue to the European Commission, which oversees competition issues ... (view more)

Microsoft has unveiled a new variant of Windows 10 known as Windows 10 S. It has some key benefits for price and security, but with some major drawbacks. The new variant of the system will be built in to several machines, ranging from more basic ... $189 laptops to a $999 Microsoft Surface, which combines an ordinary laptop with a touch screen. The name doesn't stand for something specific, but rather Microsoft has thrown around terms such as security, simplicity, speed and streamlined. Devices running at the system will be billed as loading and running more quickly than many rivals and all ... (view more)

Microsoft says most users should hold off getting the next major Windows update until it's automatically installed. The unusual warning is because of some specific hardware compatibility problems that Microsoft is ironing out. The update has been ... dubbed the 'Creators Update' and is the second major update Microsoft has issued for Windows 10, though it has been making minor changes and additions since the system was released. Some but not all users have already received it as an automatic update. That's because Microsoft is deliberately rolling it out in stages and initially ... (view more)

Users of Microsoft's Docs.com have been warned to review security settings on their account. Researchers found it was all too easy to search and find personal data contained in documents mistakenly made public. Docs.com is designed to make it easy ... to share documents with other users over the Internet, including PDF files and those in Office formats, regardless of the device and operating system they are using. The site includes a search feature that lets a user look for text in any document on the service to which they have access - something that's designed to make it much easier ... (view more)